The Eleven Doctor
by AlexanderSilverthorn
Summary: A mysterious figure warns the 4th Doctor about a future version bent on ending the Time War with the most destructive force ever known.  He is sent to gather up other versions of himself to stop himself from completing his task.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The roar of the TARDIS engines filled the control room as the Doctor moved hurriedly over the panels. The blinding white of the room was offset by the colorful scarf and deep brown coat in which he wore. He had a look of complete concentration on his face. He was off to see the topaz mountains of a planet long forgotten to anyone but a Time Lord. The people of the planet had since vanished, though no one could say why. The sheer amount of crystalline formations on the planet alone made him believe that they were probably wiped out for mining purposes, but in all the knowledge at his fingertips, it was never recorded that anyone went there. It was strange, but sounded like a true mystery to be sure.

It had been a short time since he left Sarah Jane. The situation on Gallifrey didn't allow him the ability to travel with a human companion. He could go back for her, he more than had the ability. No, it was time to look forward. He was sure that when the need arose that he would go back to Earth, he'd run into her again. She was always on top of situations. Now was the time to explore and not have to worry about someone running off into danger when he couldn't be there to get them out. It was strictly on his former companion's consciences to stay out of trouble or not. The topaz mountains awaited him, and he looked forward to seeing them.

The engine roared until the TARDIS decided to rematerialize. The process was quick and the journey came to an abrupt halt. He looked at the controls, "This isn't right. I'm nowhere near Korbetam IV."

The Doctor scanned over the terrain of the planet, trying to get a fix on where he was. The TARDIS recognized it as a barren rock planet. The only intrinsic value of it was the unending source of gravel that it could provide to the galaxy. "A rock quarry, how unexpected. I suppose there will be no tea provided at wherever I'm going." With little left to say, he opened the doors and ventured out into the rocks.

His hat flopped in the breeze as he made his way around the uneven ground. The fog rolled over, which made it difficult to see at best. He studied the ground to make sure that no landmines were present. The last time that he was in this similar situation, he was on Skaro, the homeworld of the Daleks. Harry Sullivan saved him from a landmine, but there was no Harry here. Just him and whatever else was out there. In the fog he could see a shadow. The flutter of cloth and the basic shape of the shadow revealed that much like the last time, there was a Time Lord to meet face to face. There was an unease about meeting other Time Lords to begin with, but this meeting was particularly troubling. It was an overall feeling of loathing that he couldn't shake. He wanted to tell the meddling Gallifreyan to leave him alone and then leave, but curiosity got the better of him. He had to know what was so important that the topaz mountains had to wait.

"Ah, Doctor. I see you have finally arrived."

"Yes, it seems that I have. Do you mind telling me why I've arrived here and why it seems the Time Lords will not allow me to continue my affairs unabated? More importantly, who are you?"

"I am the Keeper of the Matrix, Doctor. I have vital information that the Time Lords do not wish shared with you, but I feel it pertinent that you know."

"The Keeper of the Matrix wouldn't be allowed just to take a little trip to warn me. They'd know you were missing, and come looking for you. Your return would be scrutinized by everyone. Who are you really?"

"I am what I say, Doctor. I know of the changes that you made to the Dalek timeline. I also know that it leads to much greater dangers, and that my dear Doctor will threaten all that we know."

"Is that so, tell me more." His eyes gleaned with anticipation to know what this fellow Time Lord had to say. He still didn't trust the figure, but the Doctor knew that whatever he wanted he had to give him some of the true details.

"The Daleks have taken your action as an act of war. A war that will threaten all of Gallifrey and the universe itself. This war will be great and the devastation massive. However, one figure will come and change the tide of this war, but at a great cost. He must be persuaded or stopped before he can use the penultimate device and cause the biggest chain of events of destruction that the universe will ever have witnessed."

"And you believe that I have the power to convince this one to stop?"

"Not alone, Doctor. Never alone. In order that you might stem the tide of the very thing the Time Lords wished to avoid in the first place, you must break the laws of time and cross your own timeline. It's the only way that this threat will be persuaded from taking this course of action."

"Cross my own timeline? Are you mad? You bring this news, knowing the Time Lords will bring the full power at their disposal upon us and then ask me to break the first rule of time in the process?"

"Will you do it, Doctor?"

"Yes, but in my own way. I shall investigate your claims further, but if I find that I am being lied to, I will take you to Gallifrey myself. What are the coordinates I need to go to?"

"I have fed them into your TARDIS, you will be ready to take off at your will."

"My will, eh? Somehow I very much doubt it." The Doctor turned to leave, he stopped and said loudly, "Whatever your true purpose is, I will discover it. If you know anything about me, you know that."

"Yes, I know. More than you understand Doctor." With that the Doctor started to walk the trail back to the TARDIS.

He went over in his head if he'd ever seen that face before. He know he hadn't. He was sure of it. Still, there was a familiarity with it that he couldn't shake no matter what he tried. He wanted to know the full extent of this beings true purpose and knew the only way to do that was to investigate. Whatever he found, he hoped it wasn't nearly as bad as the 'Keeper' claimed it to be. He hoped that it was just some Cyberman invasion that had gone a bit far. He could always beat the Cybermen one more time. Maybe the Daleks had devised an anti-time weapon of some sort. It could be anything. He felt it ironic that he was a renegade Time Lord asked to track a renegade Time Lord. The 'Keeper' was far too sure that the Doctor wouldn't just join him in whatever he was attempting. However, he had defeated many renegades before. So it wasn't all too strange that he would be asked this time. It was all very curious, and seemed that the president of Gallifrey would choose to handle this matter internally rather than to have him deal with the situation. Of course, he also knew that when these situations arose it would be easier to shift blame on him should things go badly and that in itself was very Gallifreyan.

He entered the TARDIS and looked over the controls. It was set to year 2004, by our recollection of time. Without much hesitation he flipped a switch and the engines once again roared to life. The TARDIS was in movement and heading towards Earth. "It seems as if I'm forever tied to that little rock in space."

It wasn't long on the journey when he notice that he was fast coming on an object in the vortex. He thought to himself that it could be a Vortisaur, but as he scanned further he saw a blue box just ahead of him. "That's not right. Am I seeing an echo?" He checked over the panels with a looks of confusion and disgust on his face. It confirmed that the object he saw wasn't an echo of his own TARDIS, but later version of the same machine. His eyes widened as he looked up at the monitor. "So, the plot thickens..."

In the span of a second a chime started to sound. It was the sound of an incoming transmission from the other TARDIS. Intrigued by what this other version had to say the Doctor immediately pressed the button and in moments he saw the face of a version of himself he had never met. The other Doctor's face was calm and collected, but not smiling. The four incarnation wasn't either, but his face couldn't hide the intrigue. The eighth finally broke the silence, "I didn't expect to meet me here. Especially not me from so long ago."

"I think you'll find that I'm just as surprised as you, Doctor. The question is, why am I meeting me in the future here? I'm assuming you are who I'm looking for."

"Sent to find me, eh? I suppose it was inevitable that they would try. Doctor, take my advice and go back to wherever you are in your timeline. It's far better that you stay away from me as you can."

"I was told by the Keeper that you were dangerous. That you planned to change the course of the universe, is that true?"

"If you have to ask, then do you want the answer? Of course you do, we always do. That's who we are."

"So in the future I've become a megalomaniac."

The future version laughed a little, "Jumping to conclusions again, Doctor. We did that all the time, and I must say it's as frustrating as the others made it out to be. I'm not a megalomaniac, Doctor. I'm trying to end a war. That's more than enough information for you. You shouldn't be here, you should be off on adventures with…, I notice you don't have someone in the background. Traveling alone, then? Sarah Jane just left, eh? Pity, she was a great traveling companion. So curious that one."

"Yes, she is. Keep on topic."

"Cheeky, coming from you."

"I can't let you do this. If you do, you're no better than the Daleks."

The eighth's face turned somber very quickly. His eyes showed an inner rage at the comment and a sigh came slowly from him. "No better than the Daleks… If you would have refused to go to Skaro, this wouldn't have been necessary. You let the Time Lords bully you into doing their dirty work and their worst dreams came true. The Time Lords are dying in droves, the Daleks are gaining strength with every defeat. You are here keeping me from doing what I came here to do. Go back to your time. Find another companion and leave me to my work. Tell whoever sent you here that this attempt to persuade me has failed, and the last person that would ever convince me to change my mind is myself." The view screen showed the outside again and the TARDIS in front started to disappear. The Doctor hurriedly tried to calculate where it was going, but the only thing he could tell was that he was going to Earth.

Fourth paced around the controls. He was lost deep in thought. The 'Keeper' wasn't to be trusted. He wasn't sure that he should be trusted either. His future incarnation seemed so sure of himself. Davros was sure of himself. So was every Cyberleader, Silurian, and a host of other alien menaces that he'd come across. Perhaps he was possessed by the Master, that might explain something. He feared that over time he had finally become that in which he faced. He didn't want to conceive of the possibility. He was the Doctor, and no matter how bloody minded he'd been in any of his regenerations, he still did the right thing. That's what he does. He didn't want to consider that this one lost his way. Perhaps this one needed to get the perspective of his other versions as the 'Keeper' had said.

That was another matter though, he needed to investigate this 'Keeper'. Even that he couldn't do alone. He loathed the very idea of involving other versions of himself. His resistance to the idea was overriding. He absolutely refused to believe that they were even a necessity. He could do this, and why not? He was the Doctor. Any one Doctor could do the job. Still, the opponent was the Doctor. His face turned to a look of defeat. He stared blankly into space, "Why can't things ever go easily?" He pondered that for a moment. He turned a bit more thoughtful, "If they did, the universe wouldn't need me."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Leadworth, England 2010

"That was great Doctor. This was the best wedding present I could've imagined." Amy Pond said in her excited way. She and Rory stepped out of the TARDIS and onto the walking path up to the house where she and the Doctor first met.

"I'm glad that I could be of service Pond. We aim to please."

"Yeah, thanks Doctor. It was great." Rory was less enthusiastic as his wife. The Doctor looked at him and smiled that boyish grin of understanding. Rory came into his own as a person when the crack in Amy's wall was finally resolved. There was still a great deal of reluctance to him, and why not? The dangerous in the universe were incalculable and he finally got the girl. As adventurous as he was becoming, there was still a greater part of him that just wanted to keep Amy safe.

Amy on the other hand was a different matter altogether. She would jump into the situation with a giddy feeling of a school girl getting her first kiss. She'd been through one of the most trying experiences of her life, and knew that the universe changed around her. For all the hell she endured with the crack in her wall, the ridicule over her imaginary friend the Raggedy Doctor, and losing everyone she cared for around her; there was still a greater fascination to see what else was out there.

She looked around at Leadworth. It was the same, yet different. She always wondered if others he traveled with felt the same way. She couldn't have imagined it would be otherwise. Amy turned back towards the Doctor and Rory. "So, what's all this about then? Is Leadworth going to be overrun with aliens again?"

"Not as such. Actually, I'm dropping you two off for a small time. I will be back, but there are things that require my immediate attention and it's too dangerous for you two to come with." The Doctor replied with a whispered and calm tone.

"Doctor…" Amy retorted with a tone of contempt and warning.

"I know, I know! I will be back, Pond. Then we three can be off to anywhere and any when. Is that a word? Well it is now. In any case, you've got a ticket here for £20,000. That should buy you a nice honeymoon other that Leadworth."

"The whole of time and space and you want me to go some place on Earth?"

"Don't knock Earth, Amy Pond. You of all people should know that there's more here than meets the eye and you have the distinct privilege of knowing what to look for and seeing the deeper picture. Very few people get that!" She looked into his eyes. The young face giving way to the eyes of a soul older than the stars. It was times like this where she wanted to argue and more or less would've run into the TARDIS and left with him regardless. She saw though that he was in one of his dead set moods. This generally didn't mean much to her, but she also knew that pushing him too far was a bad idea too. The problem was she never knew when she was going to push that little bit too much.

"Fine, but you better be back Doctor. If you don't, I'll find you!"

"Oh, without a doubt!" He gave that smirk once again. With that he turned back to Rory and shook his hand. "Go and have a marvelous time. Go to Manhattan, Hawaii, Japan… there's so much to do, just have an adventure."

"Thanks Doctor. I truly appreciate this."

"I knew that about you, Mr. Pond." Rory laughed a little before catching what the Doctor said and lost all expression. With that the Doctor entered the TARDIS and the sound of it entering the time vortex filled the area. He went over to the console and started to pull levers, turn knobs, and once satisfied that the ship was on course, he turned his attention to the message center of it.

The ticker tape message was clear "HELLO SWEETIE. MEET ME AT THE GREAT HALL ON FIRNOS. COME ALONE." He didn't know what it was about, but knew the message was from River Song. River was a mysterious person to the Doctor. She knew him, but it was indeterminate when they had first met. She had a bad habit of running into him with the most extraordinary of circumstances. He remembers first meeting her the day she died. From there, she reappeared just shortly after his regeneration and has been tracking him all around time and space. The truth is, he liked her. She was full of answers and adventurous spirit. The problem is that he liked to solve mysteries and she was a mystery wrapped within an enigma. It never set well with him.

Firnos was another matter altogether. He knew the Great Hall well. Some alien race came to Earth many, many years ago and decided that they loved the Vikings. In some sort of homage to the primitives in which the found so fascinating they created a hall that has become one of the most seediest parts of the galaxy. He thought it interesting that she would want to meet there rather than find some place more appropriate. He knew of a small restaurant on the edge of Andromeda, but it wasn't his game.

He wondered if he'd meet the her in the order of their last meeting or if this were another earlier version of her that still knew him. Being a Time Lord, he was used to all sorts of paradoxes and the timey-wimey things that were related to meeting with other travelers. However, she was another story altogether. Meeting her was an adventure all in its own. He was intrigued, but he wasn't always pleased with this guessing game of who and what she was. Professor River Song's perplexity was fascinating to say the least.

It was a short trip to Firnos. He wish it would have been a bit longer, and technically he could have made the trip longer. Take a side trip to the deepest jungles of some alien world and see if he could find some rare mineral or plant. Perhaps even pick up yet another companion. Amy would enjoy it. Then again, maybe not. He hadn't completely been oblivious to the fact that she wasn't thrilled when they first met River. It was to be expected. A lot of his companions didn't like the crowding room. The TARDIS was vast, but if it had been the size of the universe it wouldn't have been big enough.

He stepped out of the TARDIS where he spotted the Great Hall across a rather busy street. He sighed a little. "Of all the gin joints in all the planets in all the universe, she had to come to this one. Ooh, paraphrased Bogie… Hope he'll forgive that one…" He strolled casually into the place and he noticed all the different aliens strewn about the place. There at the back of the hall sat a woman in a white coat. Her ruby red lips and come hither look gave way to a smile. A grin crept over the Doctor's face as he walked towards her. One of the many aliens noticed his walking towards the woman and couldn't help but decide to detain this interesting person. He didn't particularly like the look of the Doctor. The hair was wrong, the skin too pale, his outfit looked like he was some sort backwards race produced this pathetic thing.

He grabbed the Doctor's arm and stopped him dead in his tracks. There was a moment of surprise, and the Doctor looked at the alien's hand. It was a dusky red with longer black fingernails. He looked towards its face and saw yellow and silver eyes staring from a heavily pierced face. His teeth had been filed to points and the wings were obviously implanted. There were metal attachments underneath the bits of skin. The alien species was known as the Vitrax. Their species was born all sorts of colors, usually dictating demeanor. It was no surprise to find one here,. Nor was it a shock to find one with as many piercings and implants as this one had, for they were sadistic and masochistic. This one emitted a low level growl at the Doctor. "Where do you think you're going, little man?"

"Just to visit a friend of mine waiting over there. So if you wouldn't mind letting me go…"

The Vitrax laughed a bit, "I mind a lot. The woman is with me."

"I highly doubt that, she doesn't have that much a mean streak. Well, she might…" he looked back towards her. "No, I definitely think you're not her type. She prefers men with bowties."

He turned the Doctor about face grabbing both of his arms. "You're funny little man! Really funny! My sides are splitting!"

"At least you're getting a thrill out of it! Now let me give you a bit of advice, you've got me all nice an trapped here, but at this very moment my friend has a very fancy piece of technology pointed at you and is likely to shoot a limb off of you if you don't let me go. Mind you, I'm sure that I've got a few tricks up my sleeve too."

The Vitrax looked towards River with a look of confusion. He notices she had nothing pointed at him. When he looked back to the Doctor he let go of one arm and raised his fist. The massive hand was big enough to take the Doctor's head clear from his shoulders. "Any last words, little man?"

"Yes, I think you need to see a Doctor!" Before the Vitrax could comprehend what it was his prey said, the Doctor raised his freed hand and pointed the sonic screwdriver in his face. The vibration was turned up to a higher level and it started to rattle all the metal. It also didn't help that because of the intensity of the wave that his equilibrium was completely gone. He let go of the Doctor and fell to his knees. His stomach was queasy, the world was spinning 'round and 'round. He couldn't make out of he was actually on the floor or the ceiling.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I do have a meeting with a friend to attend." He walked away from the scene towards River's table. He smiled as he approached.

River returned the look, "Always know how to make an entrance, don't you Doctor?"

The others around their table heard the name and several expressions of surprise filled the room. More than a few backed away from the area where River and the Doctor sat. One such alien went to the Vitrax and told him he was lucky to have survived the encounter. The presence of the Doctor was legendary, and all too worrisome. The Doctor scanned the room again to see the attitude of the room since River mentioned who he was. "I don't like to name drop, but I do dance rather well. I can't help it if I'm cool. If you don't mind though, I'd like to know what so important that you wanted to see me alone?"

"Can't a girl want to see an old friend?"

"The trouble with that logic is that when you want to see an old friend, it's usually when something incredibly is threatening to kill us both. I'm not fond of dying. It has its place, but I like the idea of doing a bit more traveling before I pack it in."

She put a glass of something deep blue and steaming down and nodded in understanding. "Then straight to business. I've done a bit of traveling around since the last time we met and almost ran into you. A much different version of you on Earth."

"That's bound to happen. Depending on how far you went back, I'm all over Earth. Nothing concerning about that."

"There was more than one of you. There were several of you. I counted at least three of you chasing a fourth."

"What? How did you know they were all me?"

"One talked to the other, and referenced that they were Doctors and the one being chased mentioned the others were versions of himself as well. He said the others would be along soon enough. Not to mention the fact that I had traveled with you once."

The Doctor looked stunned. He didn't remember any of this. None of himself chasing another. Time was in flux, he could tell it. It wasn't right that they should be crossing their own timelines like that. What was it that they were doing? What was so bad that would make him hunt another version of himself. "The one they were chasing, what was dressed like?"

"Rather Victorian. Almost as if he was out of an H.G. Wells novel."

"That's bad, very bad. Actually, that's worse."

"What's the matter Doctor?"

"That was my eighth regeneration, he was Doctor that fought in the Time War. He was the one that ended the Time War. If the others are looking for him, it might be to stop him from doing what's necessary. But how would they know? Someone would have had to told them. They wouldn't understand, they would just know the horrific nature of it all."

"If they stop him, the Time War will still rage on?"

"Oh, yes. The Daleks and the Time Lords will burn a great deal of the universe to cinders before it ever gets resolved. No, no, no… this cannot be happening. I can't allow it to happen. I have to convince them that this isn't the way."

"You'll need help."

"I have to do this myself."

"Doctor, you need someone who might have enough persuasion to talk your otherselves out of this. I might be able to do that."

"River, no. As it is, I'm a little more than cross you went back to look in on me. I know when I met you the first time. I don't need you causing more problems than that. Promise me, River."

"Alright, Doctor. I promise, no more looking you up. I still think you need some help."

"I'm going to get it."

"But you said that you had to do it yourself…" she stopped to consider a moment.

"Other versions of yourself. You're going to try to convince them to help you."

"Guaranteed they didn't go to my two previous incarnations. They stopped with the eighth because any other versions would obviously be in agreement with the actions that the previous committed."

"All those Doctors in one timeline. That has to be exciting."

"It never works out. We manage to save the day, but we don't get along. It's hard to win an argument with yourself. It would send a lot of people into therapy on Earth. I wonder if Amy could recommend someone? Of course I don't think they're quite up on the necessity of meeting oneself under threat of paradox. Mind you, I don't think many Time Lords were either."

"You're amazing Doctor, you know that?"

"Of course I do! I'm the Doctor! I'm dressed for success." He adjusted his bowtie and stood up.

He ran out of the door and headed back to the TARDIS. As he started the engines his jaw set itself in a hardened look. The idea of this many Doctors running around appalled him to no end. He wasn't sure it was really a good idea to involve the others, but what else could he do? He couldn't be sure he could convince the earlier incarnations that he was right. He also wasn't convinced that the other two would be able to either, but he needed to try. His eighth regeneration was far too important to the Time War. They couldn't understand that without the Time Lock placed on it, someone could go back and change the Moment. That one bit of time when Gallifrey and the Daleks burned was the final blow in the war that ended it all. Rassilon himself had changed certain things to make the Master a gateway for the return of Time Lords. It wasn't bad enough that the resurrected the Master, but then to change him to the extent of making him so unstable was unthinkable. It didn't matter much as the Master was dead. The Doctor paused a moment at the thought. It wasn't the first time the Master died. If it was possible for anyone to come back from the dead, it was him. It wasn't as if he'd never done it before. And knowing full well what Rassilon did to him, he was the one person that could undo it. Returned to the classic villainy of his original incarnations he would be that much more deadly. That's to say nothing if he's return with a set of full regenerations. This entire scenario screamed the Master. If for no other reason so that he himself could stop the Doctors one and all, take the moment, and leave himself the last Time Lord. The plot was fiendish to its core. The problem was it was all speculation. There were so many different enemies of the Doctor that would be more than pleased to do this. The Daleks have been more meddlesome since the end of the Time War. So many questions, so little answers.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The Fourth Doctor finally gained a bit more composure. The troubling idea of him being the threat of which he was going after would send most people screaming into a corner. Thanks to past memories he knew of many times when he's managed to be collected in various incarnations to deal with threats. The problem is that the threat was never with himself. He had been lucky enough to this point not to crossover with his future or past selves, although he was aware that it wasn't for lack of trying. During one mission on Gallifrey, it seemed that he would have been apart of such a gathering if not for the fact that he was trapped in a time eddy. He was in a perpetual loop of time that he could not get out of. The resolution of the situation on Gallifrey lead to his being freed from it. Of course he wasn't really sure what happened after that. Future events and such nonsense. It was the problem with time travel; you're never quite certain when you'll run into an event that is supposed to happen to you later.

The Doctor worked his way over to the control panel that would set the date and for his next travel. Surprisingly he found it to be already set and just awaiting his push to sent it towards it destination. He frowned, "My will, indeed." It was set to late 1986. "What good is all this, if I'm not allow to pick them up at my will? You're choosing time frames for me. I don't remember ever being in the later part of 1986! Was it some UNIT adventure? Was it something else? This 'Keeper' is more annoying than most Time Lords I've met! Why not let me choose which versions of myself to collect first? I remember places I could find the first three of me! One I could manage to pick up my sixth incarnation! That would just leave me to find my fifth and seventh! I really must find out how he's controlling my TARDIS! This is getting far too annoying for words."

The Doctor had some memories of two of his future incarnations. The first was a rather thin man, fair-haired and wore a cricket outfit with celery on his lapel. He looked youngish and seemed reasonably well mannered, but their was still a sense of smugness that came across when he was in the room with his otherselves. The other was too fair-haired, but wore a rather garish coat with all sorts of colors and patterns. Not nearly as even tempered as the previous Doctor before him, he seemed rather content with barking at people around him. It was only when he wasn't barking when he was truly at him most dangerous. It was the second incarnation's thoughts of him anyway. The Fourth Doctor was curious if he'd have the same thoughts of him were they to meet. He supposed he would get his opportunity very soon.

The TARDIS twirled through the vortex and the engines were screaming the familiar sound. Soon, it started to dematerialize from it's location and rematerialize in Pease Pottage, England. It was a small village in West Sussex. The Doctor looked at the view screen of the quaint village. There he scanned the entirety of it to find out why he was delivered here. There he saw a blue box materialize into view near a small place not too far from his landing point. Out of it stepped the garishly attired Doctor he had just been thinking about and a red headed woman who was, to say the least, the most perky individual he'd ever seen. He's seen his share, but she seemed very excitable. She gave her Doctor a reassuring smile, said something that the Fourth Doctor didn't quite make out, and jogged away. As she did, the Fourth Doctor bolted from the TARDIS in order to catch up with the sixth before he left.

The Sixth Doctor stood there and watched a woman who he didn't even know jog towards her home. He was indebted to her for helping him during a very difficult period in his life. Just moments ago, they had left the the courtroom of the Doctor's trial. A mysterious Time Lord called the Valeyard had put forth that the Doctor was a meddler, constantly breaking the laws of the Time Lords, and far too dangerous to allowed to continue to roam the cosmos. His want was to kill the Doctor that he might have what was left of his regenerations. The Valeyard was unsuccessful at his attempt, but it still had the Doctor lost in a great deal of thought. He realized how close he was to losing the case, but that wasn't the worst part of it. No, if anything it was who he would've lost the case to. The Valeyard wasn't just some Time Lord with another name, he was the Doctor himself! Another of the Time Lords gone evil. That part disturbed him more than anything.

As the Sixth Doctor started to back into his TARDIS, he noticed that someone was running towards him. His look gave way to some surprise, but it also showed how utterly tired he was of dealing with himself. Not too long before the trial, he had run into his second incarnation. The Androgum situation was nothing less than frightening. A transfusion of blood from one of the Androgum, Shockeye, started to turn his second incarnation into one himself! It was lucky that it hadn't managed to fully completely the process. If it had, then the Sixth Doctor might not be the man he is today. Working with himself was always a difficult experience even when he wasn't changing into other species. This last run-in was the worst, though. It was one thing to dislike an aspect, but to know that he wanted to kill himself... He knew Freud would have a field day with this one. He saw that the Fourth Doctor grew ever closer, and the first instinct he had was to shut the TARDIS door and leave. He really had no want to talk to his former self, not after all he'd been through. Still, he realized that it must be important if his fourth incarnation was so intent on meeting with him. With a heavy sigh, he shut the door of his TARDIS and stood there waiting for himself to get there.

"Well, that was unpleasant. I'm afraid I'm much better darting through hallways and over rocks than over fields and hedges." The Fourth Doctor said with a pant in his voice.

"Yes, well, one does need to be in the best of shape when doing such exercises." Six retorted with a sarcastic smirk. "I suppose you're here for some other reason than going for a run?"

"Down to business, eh? I see at least some of my charms have still kept around."

"Oh yes, I remember. Always with the smart remarks, make yourself feel superior to everyone. Thank heavens none of that retained."

"No, I suppose not. I suppose your personality is subdued by that nightmare of a coat you wear."

"I'll have you know this coat has more meaning to it than that ratty old scarf of yours!" He said belligerantly.

"Ratty? This scarf is perfectly fine! It's even useful. Though, I can see your coat being useful too! I should think most of your enemies might have problems being blinded."

"I don't know why I bother! It's never good to talk to yourself, and I should know!"

"Listen, I didn't come here to get into some silly argument about what should and shouldn't be done! I'm here because I need your help."

"My help, eh? Is it hard for you to admit it?"

"More so, listening to you. In any case, one of our incarnations has gone rogue and I need your help." The Sixth Doctor's face turned from one of sarcastic glee into something more stern and hardened. Had the Valeyard survived the ordeal?

"Rogue? Perhaps, a little less bickering is in order. Tell me more."

"Let's go back to my TARDIS and I will explain on the way. I'm supposed to be gather the other Doctors together so that we might try and reason with him." As they started to walk, Four told his future self everything. Six listened intently, he was surprised and rather dismayed that the Doctor they would be pursuing wasn't the Valeyard. As they entered Four's TARDIS, he sighed deeply. His mind raced at the fact that this problem started at his eighth incarnation. He assumed that it had all stewed in him until the last incarnation. He assumed that part of him after this incarnation or possibly the next just gave up. In terms of regenerations, he had gone through several very quickly. It was always in the act of doing something good that he'd meet an end to one of this regenerations and wondered maybe if the Valeyard didn't directly influence the idea that perhaps it was doing all that good that's caused his spiral towards the last. For the first time he was afraid to regenerate for the idea of unleashing whatever hell he had inside him. He wanted to refuse the possibility, but look at the Valeyard! The Master had told him that it wouldn't be till the end, but he's a known liar. The unknown never looked more fearsome.

As the TARDIS started up, the Doctors stood hovering over the control panels. The Fourth's hands glided over the switches and in mere moments the sound of the engines started to fill the room. The Fourth Doctor looked at all the instruments to make sure everything was set accordingly, although the destination was preprogrammed into the system. He was rather pleased that other than some small amount of chatter from his future self, there had been little in the way of keeping them from the appointed task of collecting the next in line of Doctors. The whole situation rolled in his mind, like his ship in the vortex. He wanted to put some sort of positive spin on this. Something that would be of extra benefit than to collect the others to help stop this situation. He couldn't see one. If the Time Lords were going to step in about this, they likely would have done so when he attempted to meet with Eight. Instead, they allowed him to continue on to Six and now off to retrieve the next in line. Nothing was right about this, and yet it seemed true. Four knew that the best liars were the ones that wrapped their lies in truths, so many questions and so few answers.

Eventually the engine noises weren't enough for the Sixth Doctor, he wanted to start talking. His curiousity was far too great, which was a trait that all the Doctors had. Four was lost in thought, he could tell the look. He knew how it was back then, always so introspective about things. It was the unpredictable nature that is still talked about today. He knew that even today, he had to live up to that legacy. The problem with regeneration, he found, was that their personalities changed with each new face. Unfortunately, the previous incarnation's personality quirks were imprinted wherever he went and sometimes were expected. He wanted to thank Four for cause some of the havoc that he wrought all over the universe. Still, to do that was to admit that he hadn't done the same. Well, he didn't think he had done that badly. The problem was that he knew for everything he remember going smoothly, there would be someone there to claim that it was a train wreck before and after the situation was dealt with.

"So where are we off to now?" Six finally broke the silence.

"Somewhere in 1994. The 'Keeper' is sending me after certain incarnations first. It would be far simpler to just allow to me pick up ourselves as it seemed easiest to me."

"Yes, I never did much like people interefering with the TARDIS' operations. Especially when I don't know them."

"I find it difficult to believe he didn't have an ulterior motive in sending me here first. Honestly, if it were me I would have gone to our seventh regeneration and sent him back to collect us."

"Perhaps our seventh incarnation is up to no good, eh?"

"Quite possibly, but then I wouldn't know would I? I was warned about the eighth, not the seventh. And for that matter, I only know about you because you ran into us when we were our second version."

"Yes, well... That wasn't very pleasant. It was good to see Jamie at least, but that's where the pleasantries end."

The TARDIS did it's work and in very short order it sat down on a planet far from Earth. The planet Mynostra was a refuge for many travelers come to seek its solitude and peace. The inhabitants there were often cited as being some of the most welcoming people in all of the known galaxies. Their only lot in life was to serve others in the further pursuit of their happiness. It exuded from their bodies. The sky even at the brightest of days was a beautiful shade of navy blue, the trees were serene in greens and orange. The skintone of the inhabitants was a very calming light blue which matched their eyes. The pupil of the eye was white giving them a distinct look. The Doctor had been here only once, and it was to meet someone then as well. He'd made some friends in his travels and in the times when he couldn't do much else, he would suggest Mynostra since it was so inoffensive.

The scanners looked over the terrain, trying to find their next passenger. There, sitting on a bench made from what we would consider to be marble was a smaller man with a frown on his face. He wore a panama hat with the brim turned upwards, plaid pants, and a vest riddled in question marks. Off of his wrist hung an umbrella that too had a question mark that formed the handle. His eyes were shadowed as he sat there contemplating the universe. It wasn't hard to see that he had the weight of creation upon his shoulders. The Fourth and Sixth Doctor watched him carefully. The Fourth's study ended with a look of disturbed interest, "He looks a rather pleasant fellow, doesn't he?"

The Sixth Doctor's eyebrows raised as if piqued by what his former self had said, "Mmm...Yes, it seems he's quite the pleasing soul." He walked closer to the monitor to look over his face. As he did, his seventh incarnation looked up as if to respond to the intrusion of his personal space. His face turned from sullen thinker to angered Time Lord in a moments notice.

"Well? You didn't think that I wouldn't hear you rematerialize? You're in a TARDIS for heaven's sake, landing on one of the most peaceful planets in the cosmos! Don't stand in there waiting!" His face turned back to the ground in a sullen anger.

Four and Six gave a look of surprise to one another. "Well I suppose he's right," the Fourth Doctor said.

The two disembarked from the craft and walked slowly towards their future self. As he looked up his jaw tightened a bit. It wasn't a shock that two of himself should be walking towards him, but the fact that it would be those two in specific that gave him some pause. To say that the Doctor's personality, in whatever form, was strong is to say that a hurricane is merely a puff of wind. These two on the other hand were stronger than most. The force of their personalities would long be remembered through time and space. As the two approached he let out a huff of air. The other two knew from that moment that convincing him of their purpose wouldn't be easy.

The Sixth Doctor couldn't help but continue his analysis of his next regeneration. He couldn't help but see that there was a darker side to him, even through the bright clothing. Their eyes met and the Seventh Doctor gave a bit of a smile. Six wasn't sure what to make of him. "What's the matter," Seven started, "something troubling you?"

"You seem a great deal more chipper than you were a moment ago." Six replied back.

"Chipper? No, I don't think so. I'm somewhat amused by your showing, however."

"That would be my doing." Four butted in with a big smile.

"Undoubtedly, and I'm sure you have good reason."

"There's a renegade version of ourselves that has the ability to end anything at a whim. Your next regeneration." Four answered.

"Renegade, eh? And perhaps this renegade is merely doing the work that's necessary. Have you ever considered that?"

"He's talking about the destructive power to destroy everything we know! " Six yelled back.

"Everything we know? What do we really know? Eh? What do I really know? The situation might be bigger than you can conceive and you're ready to end it all at a whim! And for what? The survival of the Time Lords? The survival of Earth? The best cup of tea you ever had?"

"Why are you playing Devil's Advocate with the situation? We know that something isn't right. Whether it be with this 'Keeper' or with our self, we must press on. And here we are wasting moments debating the situation with you."

"And you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

"Stop! I can't stand to see myself bickering. Especially knowing that this is my future! So what will it take to convince you of our need to be involved with this?" Four ended the bickering quickly.

"Telepathically link with me, the both of you, and maybe that will convince me that you're cause is worthy of looking into." Seven squinted his eyes and gave them another dark smile. Both gave each other a glare and nodded begrudgingly.

"Contact," Four called out. This was followed by Six and Seven. In the theatre of the mind's eye, the three stood in the quarry where Four met the 'Keeper'. Six looked at the face intently and his eyes narrowed, if Seven saw the same thing he didn't make it known. The image forwarded to Eight. His demeanor was so cool and collected, his words so assured in their purpose. As they broke telepathic contact, Four noticed that there seemed to be a shift in the balance of those 'in the know.' He looked at the two with that great curiosity he was known for.

"It seems you were right. There is call for a gathering of the Doctors. I can't say what our future self has in mind, but this Keeper does require special attention indeed." Seven said with a sense of mystery in his voice.

"What do you suggest?" Four replied.

"You go and gather the other and go after our errant self. We two will go and look for the Keeper. We need to learn all we can about him and his motives."

"Why do I have the feeling you're keeping secrets from me?"

"Really now, Doctor. Aren't we all working towards the same goal now?" Seven's devilish smile wouldn't seem to go away.

"At this moment, I'm not so sure."

"Hold on one moment! Let's not start all this again. We're all on the same page now. And he's right, it would be best if we split company now. We're best suited to go after the Keeper. The others are going to need you to rally behind to stop us from doing whatever it is we've got in mind to do." Six said.

"Very odd that you've become the diplomat, isn't it?" Four retorted.

"Desperate times beckon, Doctor." Six replied with a smug air.

"I suppose they do," with that the three Doctors broke company and headed for their TARDIS'. It wasn't how Four had envisioned this going, but he couldn't fault the logic either. He wasn't sure where the next destination would take him, but he hoped that there would be a quick resolve.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The Eighth Doctor's TARDIS landed in Manhattan. He walked outside to the night air, somewhere in an alleyway trying to get his bearings for where exactly in the city he landed. It was roughly about 9 o'clock which was at the height of the working person's fun and games. Theatre was in session, restaurants were serving the best meals that money could by, celebrities were out in force. The streets were filled with small time vendors peddling their wares in the lower side and in uptown they were dancing and passing out hundred dollar bills like an average person lends one dollar. "New York, New York…" the Doctor smiled as he strolled towards the nightlife of the town.

He loved the gathering of people doing such fun things like these. It was nice not to see them all running in terror from some horrible monster or plague threatening to end them all. The fine suits and some that were dressed in the more modern style clashed with the Victorian Era clothing that he was dressed in, but he still felt stylish. Such was the life of the Doctor.

However much fun he was having though, he knew that he was here for a much more sinister purpose. There was a war deep in the heart of space/time and he was one of the many battling in it. Unfortunately, that meant that the combatants weren't going to allow him any safety zones in which to make plans. He tried stay away from Earth as much as was possible to avoid such things following or trying to destroy it. On Gallifrey, much had happened that would make Earth as viable a target as any other. Sometime back, the Master was brought back from death to fight. His keen and ruthless mind made him, what the Council of Time Lords thought to be, the most ruthless warrior next to the Doctor himself. This idea didn't sit well with President Romana who fought with all her persuasive ability to keep him out of the conflict. She pointed out to them that the Master was more than likely to sell them out than as to fight beside them. The Council knew that she had been captured by the Daleks and spent many years imprisoned and tortured. Her return was nothing short of a miracle, but this put her far too close to the situation to think rationally. The Council decided that she needed to step down as President so that someone could take her place that would be far better suited to the task of war. She fought for her position as long as she could, and while she was proven to be right about the Master once the Cruciform was lost to the Daleks, the Council still felt she was better only as an advisor rather than leader. It was too much for her, the Council had already followed through with it's plan and resurrected Rassilon, the father of the Time Lords. Romana left and decided that the only way she could really be of help was to fight on the frontlines.

The war only escalated after Rassilon was reborn. Time Lords were resurrected and killed in droves. TARDISes were on assembly lines ready to be put into action. That was to say nothing of the Daleks using anti-time weaponry on TARDIS technology leaving things to come out of destructive forces. The Could've Been King being the worst of it. This creature was the distillation of all those split moments where someone almost rose to power. In the wake of other such decimations he gathered the Army of Meanwhile and Neverweres. These were people that never had the chance for life or were somehow removed from existence. Under the command of the Could've Been King they had the chance to fight for a life that they believed they were owed. Neither aligned with Time Lord or with the Daleks, they would kill anything in their path with weapons forged from the wreckage of ships. Their was armor made from the scraps of destroyed Dalek shells. These creatures were dangerous at best as an army.

However, not all the Neverwere's and Meanwhiles were counted amongst the army. They knew that their chance to be born into a real existence could be handed over by the Time Lords. All they would have to do is merely be brave enough to ask. Most of these weren't that brave, however. The Time Lords would kill them almost immediately upon appearance if they weren't taken by surprise. On occasion there would be one or two that would bleed through that was put to some use. One such was let to go about his own devices to keep the Doctor distracted. It's because Rassilon knew what the Doctor had in his possession and he knew to fear it.

The Doctor was in possession of a device called the Moment. The Moment was more than just some technological advancement in weaponry. In using it, it would literally steal a moment of time, drawing a great deal of energy and when it exploded a vast amount of space near to Gallifrey and the Dalek armies would go up in flames, any one within that group would have very little time to materialize before it became a void. Not so much as a desert in space, but a place where time and space no longer applied. The Doctor knew several planets would be destroyed, but they were occupied planets by the Daleks. Whatever life forms had existed in that area before the war were either wiped from time, killed only in this time, or they fled and became nearly extinct. The worst part was that he knew all the Time Lords were going to be wiped out. He couldn't be for certain that it wouldn't erase them all completely. He was fairly certain that if it did, then no one would ever have to live this nightmare again. No more worlds dying, no more people suffering psychic backlash from the war.

The Neverwere here on Earth knew the Doctor had the Moment too. He knew that using it was so dangerous that the Doctor wouldn't use it while he was near here because he feared killing all the precious humans he often protected. No, the Doctor would never try that. The perfect place to take him, and in such a busy city that it would be hard to do anything that wouldn't put people in the crossfire. The Doctor would have to be very careful or risk losing the entire city to this creature.

The Neverwere called himself Ramaus. He would've been born on the planet, Skaro during the thousand year war. He would have been Thall, had he had the chance for life. There were things he knew instinctively, like a deep rooted hatred for the Daleks. It was as if he'd truly live all those years ago, but it made him bitter that he hadn't. Ramaus didn't trust anyone, but knew that he didn't wish to be part of an independent army such as that of the Could've Been King. There was no joining the Daleks, so the Time Lords were a far superior group. They could use their advanced technology to see in an alternate timeline where he'd been born. From there they could assess if he was worth using. Most weren't, which is where the Could've Been King was a superior choice. He trained his soldiers to be fearsome. Some were fodder, but those that weren't were elite killers. He wouldn't take the risk of being chosen as fodder.

The Doctor only knew to chase Ramaus thanks to a warning handed down from Romana. She was at the Battle of Starlight, a large offensive that took place around a sun. The Time Lords were the victors thanks to Romana, but it wasn't without loss. During the battle, Ramaus showed up. Romana spotted him first and noticed that he carried the seal or Rassilon. She pulled him into the TARDIS and noticed that he came with a purpose. He was there to retrieve something in which Romana had taken from the Chancellor of High Council and Rassilon wished it back. Romana had taken the Great Key. This key use was for the De-Mat Gun; the most powerful weapon in the Time Lords arsenal. It could be used to erase anything from time and space. No memories of the object or person would remain. Knowing that the Time Lords were considering options that would not only end the war, but much more besides, she felt it best to leave with it. She couldn't allow them to power the De-Mat Gun. It wasn't bad enough that the Time Lords were changing into the power hungry and war mongering group that they fought against, but Rassilon himself couldn't be trusted with that sort of power again. Not that he couldn't have remade the key and the gun. Even for the Time Lords, there was too little time to consider building such things.

Ramaus looked at her with such contempt, "Lady Romanadevoratrelundar, I have been instructed to take back the Great Key to Gallifrey. As a Time Lady, you are bound by duty to give it to me so that it might be returned to its rightful place."

"As a true Gallifreyan, I must decline! There are too many losses within this war. It's easy to end it, but where would it stop?"

"The choice isn't yours, milady. Lord Rassilon commands it!"

"Lord Rassilon can build a new one if he's so desperate, or has he forgotten that he's the one that built the Great Key in the first place?" She shook her head slightly and under her breath she muttered, "Your influence on me still astounds Doctor…"

"I must insist!" His gruff voice echoed through the control room.

"That doesn't matter to me!"

"You're time as the President of Gallifrey is over, Lord Rassilon demands it."

"If Lord Rassilon demands it, then have him come and take it! Right now the Daleks are about to detonate that star and we'll all be killed if it goes up! We've got a short time to make it through this barrage of fire and make sure that when that sun goes up it takes out who we want it to and not our own troops. Would you like to help, or are you going to go on about items that have no bearing in saving your life."

"Fine, finish your battle! But know this discussion is far from over."

When the battle was over, Romana looked rather relived. The TARDIS fleets left rather quickly after depositing a small store of time bombs within the sun to speed of its natural processes and cause it to go nova. It took some grand maneuvering by Romana, but she did the job. As the sun went up, the TARDIS fleet started to dematerialize into the vortex. Unfortunately, not all were able to leave as the black hole formed. It ripped up ships violently and anti-time weapons started to destruct as they were pulled in. It managed to shrink the black hole, but it created several other abominations along the way. There were time eddies that formed around the black hole. Anyone that came into this area of space would forever be stranded.

As Romana's TARDIS rematerialized she turned to meet with Ramaus again. Instead of the long and drawn out argument she was planning on having, she was instead knocked unconscious. Using a device that was given to him, he went through the time machine and found what it was he was looking for. His mission was to find the Great Key and return to Gallifrey. It didn't quite happen that way. By the time that he found the Key, Romana had woken up and had time to send a message to the Doctor who was already en route to help his former companion. Ramaus couldn't hope to defeat them both, but Romana would at least be easier to take on alone. He had to get outside of this TARDIS before the Doctor showed up and he could use the vortex manipulator to send him elsewhere.

He went into the control room and met with the Time Lady. She and he were at opposite sides of the control panel and he smiled at her as he moved closer to it. "Open the outer doors, milady."

"I don't think so."

"I do. You see, I'm on the side of the controls which could send us back into the pit you've just created. No escape for us. No way of knowing what would happen."

"You would die too."

"I've been dead, milady. It doesn't matter as much to myself as you. Let me out."

"I won't do it."

"Okay, better compromise then. Let me out or I will call Lord Rassilon and have him send the whole of the Gallifrey TARDIS fleet after you."

"They follow me into battle, most of them know to trust me."

"That pittance of fighters is hardly the entire fleet. Your loyalties carry only as far as winning a battle. They'd kill you in a moment if it got them further in the ranks. I'm offering you the chance to survive and fight another day." He raised the vortex manipulator, knowing that the Time Lords could've modified it with a communications device. She decided that she didn't care. In the end, she would rather get arrested by the Time Lords than to allow him to walk out.

Eventually he saw that the Doctor had arrived. The unmistakable Type 40 appeared on the view screen and she smiled. The angered look on Ramaus' face was indication that he didn't like how this was turning. If he displeased Rassilon then there would be hell to pay. Ramaus wouldn't face the music alone. He didn't like the idea of trying to teleport from inside a TARDIS with it's shields up. He preferred to be on the outside in normal space before he made the attempt. He was warned that it had never been tested inside a TARDIS, and not being a proper Time Lord himself he wasn't sure if it was true or not. He merely agreed that it wasn't worth trying to break barriers and ending up dead anyway.

He came to a quick decision and rushed her. Romana prepared to fight him, but instead he grabbed her around the arm and rammed her into the wall. She hit with deafening thud and slid down the wall. He ran to the panel and flipped the switch that opened up the TARDIS doors. The Doctor's TARDIS was on its way. He would soon be right on top of him. The Doctor opened his door with his sonic screwdriver extended. Not willing to wait for the Doctor to get nearer, he pressed buttons rapidly into his wrist mounted controls and jumped forward. The Doctor hit the button and a sonic wave hit the device causing it to short circuit. Ramaus cursed himself that he had done something sooner. But thanks to the artificial environments of the two TARDISes coming into contact with each other he was able to use that infernal device.

As he disappeared into the vortex entrance, the Doctor went towards his control panel and started to track the energy signature that was now bleeding from the device. It wouldn't be hard to find him now. He went back to the doors and looked into Romana's TARDIS. She was standing, looking rather rough around the edges. "Are you alright?" 

"Yes! Don't let him escape!" The Doctor nodded and ran to the controls. He pressed the controls and started to follow in the wake of the energy signature. The Doctor made the situation quite different. The Doctor Protocols were put into place for just this reason. Whatever else you had to do, it was important to try and keep the Doctor busy until agents could come to deal with him or capture the Doctor and reclaim his TARDIS. The Doctor became aware of their enforcement after he managed to get the Moment into his possession.

The Doctor pulled out a small scanner and started to follow it to the source of the energy that he'd been tracking. He noticed that it was a fair distance from his location which meant trying to get there before he managed to make another hop. How long would it take to go to Gallifrey and come back with a group to arrest him? He feared not long enough. The chase was on, hoping he wouldn't become the chased in the meantime.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The Eighth Doctor roamed the streets of Manhattan with a purpose. The Great Key of Rassilon was here in the hands of the Neverwere; Ramaus. If there was a more simplistic piece, it was that key. In the hands of a knowledgeable individual, it could unlock a power so great that it could erase anything from existence. The Doctor couldn't chance Rassilon getting that key. It was far too important that he retrieved it, and then if things went according to his plan he would use it for another function. The mere thought of it made him somber. Still, he knew that the Time Lords weren't going to stop with the Daleks. He knew the Daleks wouldn't stop at the Time Lords. Romana was his one true companion in this fight, and the tide was against her. She knew it as well as he did. She continued anyway. It wasn't out of sheer bravery. It was because she knew it was the right thing to do.

The Doctor was lost in deep thought about all that had happened as he followed the trail through people. He saw his fourth incarnation as he traveled through the vortex. He hadn't expected that. Four seemed intent that Eight wasn't doing the right thing. No better than the Daleks is how he put it. The Keeper said he was dangerous. He knew the Time Lords would try to stop him in any way possible. If he survived past this gambit, they wouldn't dare to try to gather his future selves. No, they would understand his reasoning. At least he hoped they would. There were doubts, of course there were. But how it the name of Rassilon could it be ended any other way. He searched all of time and space looking for that answer. This was the last ditch effort of a desperate Time Lord. No matter what the Gallifreyans had become, this wasn't what he wanted. He knew that younger versions of himself wouldn't understand why this was deemed necessary. They haven't lived through this experience, nor would they likely be reasoned with until they telepathically linked with him. It would be so simple to do that, but he would adamantly refuse to do it. They cannot know, it was bad enough to know that he was in the Time War much less know the events that caused it to go downhill towards this end.

As he turned the next street corner he noticed that he was leaving the nicer districts of the city. Now he was getting into areas that were only walked far enough to grab the next available taxi. He realized that he'd been following this trail for quite awhile. Where had the time gone? Never a question that he ever thought he'd ask himself. There he noticed a lady up ahead who had a man standing next to her dressed rather shabbily, and had a knife in his hand. He had it pointed at her and looked like he was moments from running him through. The Doctor looked at the tracking device and back towards the situation and put the scanner back into his pocket.

The man with the knife put the point under the frightened woman's chin. The switchblade was very sharp and drew a trickle of blood. "C'mon, lady. You got more than a few bucks to hand over. You better come across!" He growled at her.

"I swear that I don't! I promise!"

"That's a real shame, because I'm gonna have to get my money's worth some other way." As he started to push her backwards into an alley, he moved the knife down to her throat, the tip still pointing upwards. He heard the approach of footsteps and turned quickly to see who was coming his way, afraid that it was a cop. Instead he was treated to a man in a Victorian Era outfit holding something metal. He wasn't sure what it was. Could be a weird shaped taser or maybe an electric prod. If it were the later he would have to get close. If it was the taser he would have to shoot him directly. He decided the best way to go was to shift the lady to the front of him and use her as a shield. "What're you playin' at man? Me and the lady got business."

"Yes, I can see that. But I think she's rather hoping that you had everything concluded."

"Well we ain't done! So why don't you get back on the boat you came in on and head back home."

"I would, but home's a real mess these days. You understand, broken homes and such… By the way, miss? Or is it missus? In any case, what is your name."

Tearful and too scared not to answer she quietly said, "Nancy…," she gasped a little looking a the strange man.

The crook behind her tightened his grip, "Shut up! I didn't tell you to talk!"

"Nancy, eh? I don't believe I've ever met a Nancy before. Very difficult to remember all the names and faces these days. Well, Nancy, I'm the Doctor and I'm here to help." The Doctor held up his sonic screwdriver.

The man laughed at the Doctor, "You ain't gonna use that while I got her! You'd hurt her too."

"Well it might cause a bit of a headache yes, but other than that I think she'd prefer it over your company." He hit the button and a high sonic pitch came screaming out. The criminal loosened his grip, but more importantly the blade of the knife fell back into the sheathe. With that, Nancy ran towards the Doctor. As she came nearer, he upped the pitch and the thug dropped to his knees. Once he was satisfied that it would take him a bit to recover and even longer to figure out why his knife wasn't working properly, he stopped. He looked towards the grateful woman with a reassuring smile. "Sorry about that, ultra high frequency. Do you carry a mobile? It might not work very well right now…"

"I think I can get a new phone, thank you, Doctor! Shouldn't we run now?"

"Yes, I believe we should!" He pulled out the scanner and it was still blinking in a forwards direction from his location. "This way!" He grabbed the woman's arm and took off in a sprint. The pace was kept for a lot longer than Nancy was comfortable with. She was panting like crazy and as the Doctor looked back towards her he noticed that she wasn't doing nearly as well as he was. He stopped and allowed her to catch her breath.

"Why aren't you out of breath too?" She said with a heavy pant, noticing that he had turned his attention back to the device in his hand.

"Well, it takes quite a bit to wind me. It's probably running through all those rock quarries. I also have two hearts, which tends to give me a distinct advantage of not exhausting me so quickly."

She scanned his face, trying to look for any sign that he was being sarcastic or joking with her. His face remained completely blank as he studied the screen of his device. Her eyes widened a bit in some disbelief. He was strange, but insane now too? All these fancy gadgets, and extreme personality. He must be one of those eccentric geniuses. She wanted to believe that of her strangely dressed benefactor. As he looked up at the oncoming street, he pointed towards a direction. "That's where we'll find him."

She looked at him with fear in her eyes, she'd just been freed from the hands of some thug who was looking to rob her or more. Now she was running in a direction away from her apartment or the police station, and what's worse she was with man who called himself the Doctor. This man who saved her was looking for someone else. "Find him?" She said nervously. She evaluated everything again and again in her head. She came to the conclusion that she traded one danger for another and that the adrenaline of the situation made her follow the Doctor in the first place.

The Doctor looked back towards Nancy whose look of fear was obvious. He realized that he'd managed to drag her here and she truly didn't have a clue of what, or why she, was here. "Oh, Nancy. I'm so sorry about all this. I suppose an explanation would be in order, wouldn't it?" She nodded slightly. "First of all, I'm not from here."

"New York?"

"Yes, I'm not from New York, or the United States, or even Britain. I'm not from Earth. I'm a Time Lord, and I'm trailing something that plans on using your planet as a threat to keep me from going back to my Homeworld and stopping the corruption that has plagued our end of the galaxy."

"Are you crazy?" She started to tremble in fear and cry a little.

"No, but it would make things far easier on me if I were. Look, the individual down the road is very dangerous person and he holds a very dangerous object. One I can't allow him to take back to his masters. If he does, there's a fair chance that everything you and I know will be erased forever. Forgotten as if it had never been here. I have to stop it, but you don't."

"You're serious?" He grabbed her hands and placed them on his chest. She felt the hearts beating underneath his clothing. She looked at him in astonishment. He was telling the truth. He smiled at her with understanding of how difficult all this was.

"Nancy, back in Manhattan I left a very special box. It's blue, and says police box. Take this key, and keep it safe with you. Go to the box and wait there for me. It was near the theatre district within an alleyway. Step inside. It will be a bit more of a surprise."

"So you want me to grab a cab and let you stop whoever this guy is?"

"Yes, very simple."

"Simple's not the word Doctor. Luckily the cabbies take cards."

"Go Nancy, it's vital that you get there. When you're inside, there will be a large control panel. The panel that is right in front of you as you enter the door has a switch, flip it and it will shut you inside. I will come back for you as soon as I've managed to stop this madman."

She nodded, unsure of what else to say or do. If she ran, she could catch the cab that just passed them. With that she took off. He smiled until she was out of range and then the gloom of something more serious crept over. "Good Luck, Nancy." He didn't want to take the chance that Ramaus or any other Time Lord would get his hands on that key. They'd expect it with him, but not with some random woman that had never been associated with him before. He was sorry that he couldn't ease her into this information, but much like any other time he'd met a companion it was an all or nothing situation. "C'mon Doctor, into the fray with us!"

He walked towards the building his scanner indicated. What an eventful evening it had been thus far. This was the sort of thing that happened all the time before the Time War began. Sure it all tied in together, but it felt like it was the odd sort of trouble he used to always get in to. The scanner said he would find what he was looking for a the top of the building. He looked up and saw only darkness and the glint of a stray light hitting the side of a semi-tallish building. As he strolled in, he noticed that it was a nicer apartment building. Not the normal pick for a villain. He thought they would go for something like the Statue of Liberty, or the Empire State Building. A randomly tallish apartment building was odd. However, as he thought it over, he realized that it wasn't the same old place every villain would choose. Who would expect a villain here? He road the elevator up all the way he could and found the access to the roof above. There he saw Ramaus trying to tinker with the vortex manipulator.

Ramaus had been trying to fix the thing since he landed here. The ride was vicious and caused him to black out far longer than he was comfortable to admit. When he tried to make the jump back into the vortex he realized that it wasn't happening any time soon. The Doctor's infernal tampering had caused the device to malfunction and may have rendered it useless. He was hoping he could repair it, but he was no quantum mechanic. He didn't want to believe he was stranded there. He knew that the Doctor would follow him though and if he found the Doctor he could take the time machine back to Gallifrey and he would be rewarded by Rassilon for his service. Given the chance to be something other than a Neverwere. This would be a dream come true. As he kneeled on the ground trying to do whatever he could to make the device work again, he heard footsteps approaching. He turned to see who it was and found that the Doctor had found him. "Meddling Time Lord… Time Renegade."

" It doesn't quite have that ring to it. I think Doctor will suffice, Ramaus. Now how about you be a good little non-person and give me the key."

"Never, Doctor! Lord Rassilon has promised me a chance for real life. You're destruction will assure me a place in the universe instead of this!" His arm glowed with a certain energy.

"Ah, yes! I heard you Neverwere's had a bit of an energy build up. That's why you choose not to take full human forms that often."

"Lord Rassilon stabilized the human form, but the energy inside can still be burned out."

"Nothing but a meat suit after that. And I'm betting you're desperate because you've used quite a lot of energy already."

"Clever, Doctor. So clever. You think I would've let Romanadevoratrelundar live if I could've just vaporized her? I have to be very selective on what I expend energy on. It wouldn't take much to kill you and it should be leave me enough to make it to Gallifrey and have Rassilon…"

"A few things before you finish that sentence. First of all, just call her Romana. It's far shorter. Second, you missed the Lord part in Rassilon. You must keep proper terms at all times. Third, and most important, Rassilon will kill you as soon as he has the opportunity."

"No! He's promised!"

"His promises aren't worth the breath it took to say that sentence. Rassilon's madness has spread throughout the Time Lords. It started before his resurrection and has only continued since. The precipice we stand at will end anyone that Rassilon does not want towards oblivion and ascend him to a much more powerful position than that of Time Lord."

"You lie!" His anger flashed and the energy built up.

"You mean, you hope I'm lying. Believe me, I'm not."

"You're going to die, Doctor! DIE!" He fired off a blast of energy and the Doctor ran. He felt the pain of loss wash over him. He realized that the next blast would end him. The Doctor's plan all along, of course. He needed to get out of there, find some place with weapons and then return. The vortex manipulator was only good for one thing now. He could set it to overload. It was still easy enough to do that.

The Doctor peeked around the corner of the wall that kept the access door to the roof. "Are we done wasting our energy now? You energy beings are all the same! You use too much and then when you can't press the advantage you've got nothing left! I mean most of you don't realize just how much of your own life force you put behind those little stunts, do you? " He scanned over Ramaus holding the vortex manipulator by the wristband and smiling wildly. The Doctor stepped out, his head turned slightly in curious tone. "What are you doing, Ramaus?"

"I've set this to overload. It won't open the vortex properly, you made sure of that. But the influx of energy that it's trying to build to do the job will rip a hole large enough to remove half of this planet from space time and what's left to burn in the dust."

"That doesn't have that much power in it."

"It doesn't take much, and once the rip is open it will start to pull things in. The more that gets pulled in, the bigger the hole gets. Bluffing your way out won't work. It's simple, really… You can stop me, or you can stop the pending bomb. It's your choice Doctor." Ramaus tossed the watch to far end of the roof. The Doctor's face flashed into anger, which made Ramaus smile. He ran away from the scene leaving the Doctor and the useless device.

The Doctor reached the device and saw that it was already getting very warm from the build up. He thought about Nancy, and how he was glad that no matter what at least she would be safe, at least for awhile. It wasn't enough, not by far. He had to stop it from going up. As he started to work on it, he chastised himself. "Next time, I save my speech and use the screwdriver!"


	6. Chapter 6

-1Chapter 6

The Eleventh Doctor's TARDIS twisted through the vortex with great purpose. It was an interesting experience on Firnos and not the one he was expecting. The whole scenario nagged at him to the point that he almost wasn't paying attention to the controls on the panel. He was on his way to find his 10th incarnation, because he needed him to help stem the tide of the other Doctors. He knew what it would mean should they stop Eight from completing his task. The outcome would be truly unthinkable, and the war would rage on. That was something he truly didn't want to consider.

What he was considering was far more sinister, indeed. The meeting on Firnos with River left a bad taste in his mouth, there was something dead in her eyes. She wasn't telling him everything, but that wasn't anything new. Her constant reminding that he wouldn't be getting any spoilers from her and that she didn't want any in return. In the meeting before this, which was just after Amy brought him back from being erased from existence, she told him that they next that they met it would be different. He was curious how that might be. Would she turn enemy? Would she finally meet him for the first time? In any of those eventualities it would mean one thing; that was not River Song on Firnos. And if that wasn't River, then everything she said would be suspect at best. The first thing he did after starting the engines was to check out if her story was true. There would be a certain energy spike if Doctors were converging on one another in their own timeline. With a bit of tinkering in the circuitry, he was able to pick up the diverging Doctors closing in on a point. There were two that weren't moving any more strangely than normal. As he checked dates and times he realized that those were the Doctors he was looking for.

"The only problem with finding Doctors is that if you don't remember your dates correctly, you'll always find the wrong one." He muttered to himself. He knew that where he wanted to go was Ancellex, just shortly after the return of Davros and the destruction of the Crucible. So many things happened. Another companion left his company and he swore it would be the last. Then he jumped into the time stream and ended up in 1851 on Christmas. He stopped another of the Cybermen invasions, which wasn't anything particularly different than any other Christmas. After that adventure, he decided that he needed to find some small amount of relaxation somewhere. He knew Ancellex was a great place to go for just that. The mineral waters of the planet acted like they were a carbonated drink. It had a tingling sensation to it, but when that ended the body relaxed and it felt like the best massage anyone could get. Eleven thought that Amy would like this place. The sky was as blue as Earth's, and the grass as green. It's many complexes were built to be like a great spa resort planet, and would give anyone a relaxing vacation to their heart's desire. Who wouldn't want to go there? Although the Doctor's particular reason for going was this great little restaurant. It wasn't as fancy as most you would find on Ancellex, but it had the best coffee bar this side of Earth.

The TARDIS didn't take long to lock onto its destination. As it rematerialized onto the planet, the time capsule found itself pool side. As the Doctor got out he noticed all the different male and females enjoying the sun in their bathing attire. Some of the ladies tipped down their sunglasses and looked at the Doctor with a smile. He returned the grin and kept walking towards the restaurant that he knew he'd be at. It was such an uneventful stroll, as there was no Dalek armies around the corner. No Cybermen busting out of the walls and converting people, not even the Slitheen. He shuttered on that one. As many horrific creatures as he'd been across, the Slitheen bugged him the most. They hide in human bodies, emitting gases that build up in their system. In there natural state their baby like faces are attached to a body that looked like it belong in a B-Grade movie. They weren't the worst of his enemies by far, they weren't even the most disgusting of foes. It was a combination of being annoying, ugly and flatulant. His face turned into disgust, "You never hear a Dalek get flatulant!" He shook his head to clear out the cobwebs that were the Slitheen, and before he knew it he was standing at the restaurant.

The Polycarbide Kettle was full of those vactioning people that didn't have a lot of money, but wanted to have a good time. Their assortment of foods and candies was rather good, considering not being the best of all Ancellex. The Doctor would often get a supply of Jelly Babies when he arrived. Eleven hadn't lost complete taste for them, but he wasn't as fond as his fourth incarnation was. The smell of exotic coffees hit him in the face. That wonderful scent that you could rarely find anywhere else, but on Earth. There sitting at the back of the restaurant was his tenth self, though not by himself. He was sitting there and laughing with a few families and their children. One child had a ball that he held on to very closely. The Tenth Doctor's smile and warming eyes gave way to the child handing over his favorite toy. Eleven remember it well, as in front of him the scene played out like an old movie. "C'mon, it's your old pal the Doctor! I just want to show you a little trick."

"Will it hurt my ball?"

"Cross my hearts, it won't leave a scratch." The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and set it to the lowest intensity. He took the ball and placed it over the lighted end and held it there until he pressed the button. The ball just hovered over the screwdriver and the child was amazed by it. He wasn't sure how he was accomplishing that, but it was so cool. Eleven smiled at that too. There was a playfulness about him, and he wanted to get in on the act. He knew that if he did though, the good time would end. Ten needed this little bit of fun very badly. The problem was, he knew that he would have to end it.

Ten released the screwdriver button and caught the ball. He handed it back to the child and gave him a pat on the back. "Oh, do you believe it's Christmas back on, Earth? Eh? Wonderful time, Christmas. Snow, food, people being nice to each other. That's the sort of thing you want to see in the universe, isn't it? People being nice to each other!"

"I quite agree with that, Doctor." Eleven chimed in.

Ten looked up sharply and gave him the stern look he always did when something unexpected came his way. The moment their eyes locked, Ten knew what he was looking at and his eyes went cold. He marched away from the table he was sitting at and grabbed Eleven by the arm leading him outside towards his TARDIS. "You shouldn't be here." He said with a less than enthusiastic voice.

"Neither should your last regeneration, but he's on his way too."

"Why are you crossing timelines?" His face turned to concerned confusion. His eyes were almost as fixed scoped on his future self, trying to figure out what he was playing at.

"I'll explain when he gets here. There's no reason say it twice, this way we can get this next bit going once we're all in agreement." There was an innocents in his face, and the eyes that gave away that he had much larger things to tell his former regeneration. Ten looked him over with a great deal of questioning. His "poker face" came on as if to not betray what he was feeling or thinking. Eleven smiled and laughed a little.

"What, what's so funny?" Ten never blinked and the only thing that moved was his eyebrow into a questioning position.

"I liked doing that bit, the 'I don't know what's going on, but I'll look gruff till I figure it out' bit. I liked that when I was you."

Ten was less than amused and gave out a very harsh sigh, "Blimey, try to get away with anything when you're with yourself." He muttered as he looked across the landscape. "Well, when's he supposed to arrive then? I mean what point did you leave him a message?"

"He was on his way to Downing Street."

"Downing Street? Are you mad? He's dealing with the Slitheen! They've taken over! You don't interrupt that!"

"Actually it's a little late for that, I sent a message and once he opened it, it would send a small subroutine through the TARDIS and send him to here."

"Why are you interrupting that! All of the time zones you could have picked him up, and you chose that one!"

"I thought about picking him up right after he left from meeting Rose, but I thought it to be in bad taste to do so. Might make him change his mind about taking her with. This way he'll want to go back into the fight."

"Oh, that makes sense! Instead he'll be as merry as ever as he was expecting to find himself staring face to face with the Prime Minister and not two more of him! Brilliant! Nice to know I can come up with plans in the future!"

"It was a good place without bringing a lot of extra people along! He wasn't right next to anyone. I wasn't bringing Rose or Jack along on this one. I could've brought several companions with, but I decided that this was best."

"Good thing. I mean we could've let them sit in one of the TARDISes that we're collecting about the universe and let them swap stories, have a cup of tea, and have a bit of a reunion. No, instead we make sure that the aliens that took over Britain are able to get away with their plans! And by the way, when was he supposed to show up again?"

Eleven looked at Ten with a bit of a shy look. "About ten minutes ago. In all fairness though, he might be trying to fight the reprogramming."

"Oh, not good old number nine! Say that isn't so! I mean he gets a message from the future while he's dealing with something else and it hijacks his systems and he's supposed to just let it happen, eh?"

As Eleven was about to create a response the familiar sounds of a rematerializing TARDIS came screaming across the horizon. The two ran towards it, making sure to catch it before he took off again. Both reached the front doors before it fully materialized, and as it did the doors flung open and out stepped the Ninth Doctor. His eyes flared with anger as he stared at the two. "I'm still around in a couple of regenerations. I suppose that could be a good thing, except one of you has apparently decided that interrupting me was a good idea. Which one of you would that be, then?" Eleven raised his hand very slowly. "Right, so apparently hanging around the apes as long as I have, I've started to think like them. Like hijackin' someone in the middle of something. I'm assuming that you two understand that I was, right?"

Eleven and Ten stood their ground, not backing down to their angered past self. Eleven decided that he better speak up, because before too long, Ten would side with Nine and everything would be an uphill fight after that. "I brought you here for a reason."

"Ancellex? Does it look I need a massage or somethin'?"

"Honestly, yes. However, that's not the reason I brought you here. Look, there's a gathering of the Doctors occurring. One of which we three have not been invited to, but one we need to attend."

"A gatherin'? So, we've done that before. The Time Lords needed us for somethin' or other."

"Wait a minute," Ten stepped in, "why are they gathering? What have you found out?"

"I don't know where they got their information, but our first seven regeneration are being collected to stop our eighth." Both Nine and Ten's jaws tightened. If either were mad before, the level of anger in their eyes just doubled. "I was warned by a supposed friend of mine."

"Supposed friend?"

"Yes, not to give too much away about this friend, but their meeting me was all wrong. I don't know it was there, but they delivered this information. I confirmed it to be right up to this point. I didn't want to get more of us involved, but I didn't see much choice either. I can't convince the other seven by myself. Four, Six, and Seven alone will try and convince the others that whatever they believe wrong with our eighth self has likely carried on."

"They'll be first to point out that it all looks like a trap, which is set to spring on all of us and not just them."

"This is fantastic. Fate of everything is depending on telling ourselves that we're being gits. That'll go over well." Nine grimaced at the two younger looking Doctors.

"Well, if anyone could explain that, it would be you." Eleven said coyly. Nine glared at him with a look of annoyance. He shook his head, "In any case, I've got coordinates set to go after the congregation and save eight's bacon. I think nine and I should go in my TARDIS and find eight. You should get to the collected ones and see if you can convince them that this isn't the way to go."

"You just said that they'll likely think us to be a further problem, than a solution. Why are they going to listen to me exactly?"

"You've got a natural gift and charm. Besides, you're the one who seems to get the most fairy tale solutions to all of your adventures."

"Like I said, you've got some great planning skills. Well, I suppose I did have a few quick solutions along the way and in the end I must've come across a real fairy tale ending."

"How do you mean?" Eleven asked, puzzled by the comment.

"I regenerated." He looked at his future self with cold eyes. Eleven saw in his eyes that he was curious how long it would be until he regenerated. He didn't have the hearts to tell him it would be sooner than he wanted.

Nine's impatience took over, "Look, I want to get this dealt with now. I have too much else happening when this is over. I want to end this now." Both nodded in agreement.

"When I'm done, I'll be in contact with you two. I'll catch up with you when I get that chance."

"Good luck, Doctor."

Ten took a deep breath, "I'm gonna need it… Allons-y!" With that he took off back to his TARDIS. The other two started towards Eleven's TARDIS.

Nine looked back at Eleven, "I thought I was done with all of this. No more time crossing. No more interference from the Time Lords. Nothin'."

"Actually, it was more likely to happen now. You and the Doctor's on either side of your regeneration were more Time's Champion than any of us ever had been. In doing so though, it meant stopping those that claimed to police time. We paid great prices for that. Now we've got to be more diligent than ever."

"I've been diligent. I've never stopped being, diligent. We've always been so damned determined. The problem is that none of us knew what that was gonna mean, did we? When the time came, we knew what we had to do. Never thought about judgments we would have about ourselves. We're the very few that could ever judge himself from any point in our life. Different perspectives based out of the same man. No one ever understanding fully what it would be to have that power, or to have to use it. Not threatening the ultimate destruction of all if he wasn't obeyed, but to use it in the path of stopping the bigger threat. That one moment that actually destroyed it all. We destroyed Gallifrey, we destroyed the Daleks. We will be damned by so many and thanked by so many others. And we will fight against both because we shouldn't be thanked, everyone lost and I pulled the trigger. We shouldn't be damned because all of creation was at stake. It was war and it was hell. There's no one that could understand that. We've never been innocent, but the more innocent Doctors came before that date. Our eighth self was the last of them, and with it he paid an ultimate sacrifice to make it count. I've never forgotten what we did, and I never will. I just didn't want to have it all blow back up like this. It should be ended and left to rot in the few that have any memories of it." Eleven was sullen, because he knew what Nine was going to face just shortly after he left from this task. He couldn't say a word, and it killed him. Still, he would find out and in due time and in learning it would make him become the Doctor that he was destined to be.

"Well said. Very well said. Now let's make sure we don't have to deal with it again." The two entered the TARDIS and the coordinated were set. Off to Manhattan and to see the Eighth Doctor about saving him.


	7. Chapter 7

-1Chapter 7

The Fourth Doctor's TARDIS landed in Manhattan. It was very late into the night, but the people were still roaming. He frowned a little at the prospect, he didn't like dealing with people. The coordinates landed him here, which was again in 2004 time. He realized that in these terms they must've thought he had completed his task to find the Doctors and move forward to find the eighth. "Bloody cheek, you only made me go after two of them!" He grumbled as he started to walk out towards the street. He wished he'd had a scanner with him, and made a mental note that he'd need one in future. Most people that saw him started to laugh a little. The clothes and the hair were so great, most thought. He was really accomplishing that retro look everyone else was only trying to. "It's times like these, I truly miss all the rocks. Less people around. Well, when there were people they always had guns so you knew to avoid them."

He started to look for any signs of what he was doing here. There in the distance he saw a design on the wall. He squinted a bit to get a closer look at what it was, it looked so familiar. As he walked closer towards it, he saw that it was the Seal of Rassilon. "Looks like this is where they need me. Very strange, I didn't think that they'd open a branch of the Time Lords on Earth. UNIT must be having a field day with this one." He walked into the building and found that the foyer was much larger than it should be. He understood immediately that he'd entered a TARDIS, and quite a nice one too. The chameleon circuit in this one really gave it that little something. The Doctor was impressed by the fact it looked like the Council Chamber of the Time Lords. His impression shrugged off fairly quickly, "Mine may not have the look, but it's got character."

"Yes, Doctor. It does indeed." A voice came out of another door. The silhouette of the man was visible, but not much else. However, the Doctor didn't have much trouble recognizing the voice of the 'Keeper'. Four's face gathered it's unamused expression. He didn't have much use for such theatrics.

"You've come to check on my progress, have you?"

"No Doctor, to give you aid on your quest. I have a small surprise for you." From the corridors, out stepped the First, Second, Third and Fifth Doctors.

Four looked at them all and back at the Keeper with some confusion. He's specifically been sent to look for the Doctors, why have him go after Six and Seven if he could have brought them all here. He didn't trust him before, it had only cemented it since. He hoped Six and Seven were locking onto the coordinates he'd handed them of his first trip. Maybe they could spy on him just before Four had left to find them in the first place. Four's face became rather sour in expression, his eyes squinting and unpleasant at the Keeper. "Why use me to gather the others, if you already intended to get them yourself?"

"It was far easier to use the Transmat beam to catch these four than it was to get the other two."

"Transmat beam, eh? You're TARDIS is a great deal more upgraded than I would have guessed. Most of them aren't equipped with such interesting luxuries. Of course why bother to travel in a TARDIS if you have one of those, eh?"

"Good question, young man." The First Doctor stepped forward. "I was just freed from that time eddy when you pulled me out. My TARDIS was in transit. Very dangerous to do such a thing!"

"Believe me, Doctors. It was all perfectly safe."

"Safe, was it?" The Third Doctor said belligerently. "The slightest miscalculation could have obliterated him. Then you would have killed us all. I prefer to think a Time Lord such as the Keeper of the Matrix might have a mind to understand all that the Matrix contains, such as the dangers of Transmatting a person across the cosmos! I'm assuming the link we had with him while dealing with Omega was enough to get a good lock onto where he was?"

"Of course Doctor, you three were together and had just ended a mission of great importance. It was most simple to pluck you from that time and deposit you here."

"He's quite right, you know?" The Second Doctor said with stern look upon his face towards the Keeper. "Gathering us here for some reason and then doing your best to make sure you may eliminate us in such a careless manor. It wreaks of stupidity."

The Keeper's face turned to a smile, which was obviously hiding his temper. "Trust me, Doctors. I would not have risked your lives on such a gamble. I knew well what I was doing and made sure everything would be in proper order before proceeding. Now if we may get on to the task at hand."

"Yes, I was wondering when we might get to that." The Fifth Doctor looked at him with a certain flare of pride.

Four grinned at the comment and stared back at the Keeper, "I agree. Tell the man with the celery what's on your mind?" The Keeper swallowed his inner rage and began to explain everything to the collective. They stood intrigued and horrified by what they were hearing. They were all confused, none of them particularly knew what to say. Five had a deeper concerned look that the rest of them. The point in which he was taken from was just after he and the Tenth Doctor's TARDIS were removed from one another. A small time crash that could've resulted into a bigger explosion, but luckily the two worked it out fairly quickly. Ten was a nice enough man; very pleasant fellow. He doted on how he was fond of being Five when he was him. Bits and pieces of his personality showed through, such as the glasses the Doctor really didn't need to wear. Now, the Keeper was telling him that the Eighth Doctor is planning to commit and atrocity. He had three feelings about that: The first was that the Doctor he met was as good a person as he seemed and the Keeper wasn't telling the entire story. The second was that their memories were erased by whatever it was they did to end this war. The third was that the Tenth Doctor was completely insane and it was his like that made him seem so personable. Five discounted the third option fairly quickly, but that still left two. And the first was looking more like a possibility the more the Keeper kept talking.

The Keeper continued, "I gathered you here to put a stop to this before all we know is wiped out in a blaze that will burn across the universe until its end. I was hoping you would have two more Doctor's to help, but your fourth incarnation didn't seem up to the task of acquiring their help."

"Nonsense! I did completely my task! It just didn't do much good, as they were both stubborn. I don't know where they both got such disagreeable attitudes!"

"Did you try to persuade them? Did you tell them what was at stake?"

"I didn't know I had to give them a sales pitch, as well..." the Keeper's eyes burned. The Fourth Doctor too was losing his patience. "Of course I told them," he yelled at the top of his lungs! "They wouldn't have any of it. They said that they didn't see the point of causing all this energy build up if it were only to stop one man! Both of them questioned my capability to handle it. And the more I thought about the other Doctors coming along, the more I realized that they were right! If we five can't handle one of us, then none of us have the right to call ourselves the Doctor!" The other four gathered behind him and stared the Keeper down.

"Well said," the Third Doctor chimed in. "If five of us can't get him to listen to reason, then the addition of two more won't help matters."

"As it is, he'll feel cornered." Two added his thoughts.

Five walked up to the Keeper and studied him very closely, "It seems there's quite the consensus on the matter, Keeper. "

"If any of you have proven one thing, it's the ability to slip through the fingers of any number of enemies. I merely point out that the more of you to out think him, the better."

The First Doctor grabbed Five's shoulder and lead him away. He started to whisper, "He's correct about that. From what I'm to gather from working with those two, there isn't much that has stopped us except the occasional regeneration. However, young man I don't trust his motivations at all. He's leading us into a trap, I know it."

"Whispers amongst yourselves, Doctors?" The Keeper interrupted.

"Merely telling myself to have patience and understanding. That's all."

"You wouldn't have any doubts about this mission, would you?"

"Doubts? Young man, there are a great deal of doubts that I have. I am going along with this madness because I was brought here. I do not like it, nor particularly you. You are a fool; a reckless fool at that. Your only reason to bring us here is because you can't handle the situation yourself. You and the other so called 'Time Lords', can create wondrous machines that can take you to any point in history, but can't manage to stop one man from causing such a despicable act that will change 'all we know.' Keeper, you're lying about something. Eh? You're keeping some sort of secret. Transmat beams, Doctors looking for other Doctors, eh? Why not bring him here now? Why not just get it over and done with?"

"Stupid old man! I'm fighting wars on multiple fields right now! Yes, your eighth self is a great deal of importance to be dealt with, but..."

"Oh, believe me when I say I have little doubt of that. But, you're multiple fields of battle still allow you to bring your base of power to Earth? Hmm? You just said the Time War was in Gallifrey's part of the cosmos. You could've merely sent a message from there could you not?"

"I risk a lot talking to you in the first place! The Time Lords would have me killed if they knew I was doing this! That's why I cannot do it myself!"

"Fine Keeper, the game is yours! Just know that with all these unpredictable pieces on your table, things are likely not going to play out as you wish them to."

"I'll keep that duly noted, Doctor."

Four kept tabs on everything going on in the room. Out of the corner of his eye he saw something move and he in his peripheral vision, he kept looking. His expression never changed once. No alert, no surprise. Two saw him standing here very still not moving his eyes to any direction. "You're not looking well, is everything alright?"

He whispered to the Second Doctor, never once looking at him, "Someone's watching us. They're doing their best to keep to the shadows, as not to be detected."

Two giggled, "Doesn't seem to be working, does it?"

"I suppose not. Can you see who it is yet?"

"I can't make out a face, but it appears to be a rather shapely woman."

"Very interesting, would you agree? A woman here in the midst of all of us? A companion that got lost in the Transmat beam? Is it one of the Keeper's assistants? If it is, he didn't mention any. In fact he's gone out of his way to say he was in on this alone. Perhaps someone walked in here looking for something else entirely. Instead several strangely dressed men, myself and one in robes are standing around discussing the end of the universe. Galactic destruction is a very hard thing to discuss amongst layman, don't you agree?"

"Quite so! It seems that those conversations never do go well. I do find it a rather tedious task to explain it to people who have closed minds. You know the type."

"Of course. I run into them all the time. But here we have someone that is so interested in the conversation she risks being seen. Very suspicious indeed."

"A lot of that going around today. We do seem to get into these jams. I was telling that to Jamie once."

"Yes, Jamie. Always one to try and grasp the situation in terms he would understand. I admired that of him." The figure disappeared out of the main door to the outside world. Four stopped looking and wandered up to the Keeper who was still in the midst of an argument with the First and Third Doctors.

"You're willing to set us free in dealing with this situation, but don't tell us a thing about why it came to all of this! How are we supposed to know how best to handle the situation if we don't know all the facts? I can't just reverse the neutron flow and hope everything will work out for the best, now can I?" The Third Doctor demanded of the Keeper.

"Come now, Doctors. I think we've underestimated the Keeper's role in all of this! He's at risk, he said as much. It's too dangerous for him to fully interfere and has done his best to help us in ensuring the future. Would we ask anything more from him?" The three Doctors not aware that there was another player that was in the room, looked at him with puzzled anger. They did expect more out of him. No one in their position would want different. All of them tried to intercede a comment, but the Fourth Doctor started to get louder and mock their tone. As they stopped talking, he waiting only a moment to make sure they wouldn't start right back up. "Good, now listen. We've got a great task ahead of us outside those doors. The Keeper is being kept from his appointed rounds and we can't let that happen for too long, now can we? His risk is far too great!"

The Third Doctor couldn't stand it, "Have you lost your, so called, mind?"

"Perhaps I have, but then that's the last thing that our eight incarnation would expect, hmm? Now let us stop all of this nonsense and try to stop whatever it is that we're meant to, shall we?" The five Doctors stood there, and with reluctance they agreed. None of them particularly liked this idea, but what else was to be done? Once they'd completed this task, then they could corner the Keeper. They left out the door.

Outside, Two and Four started to scan the area. They were looking for any sign of the woman that left the Keeper's TARDIS. One and Three were burning with impatience about the whole matter. They were going to demand answers. Right as they were about to speak up, Four chimed in his thoughts, "I can't find her. How about you?"

Two shook his head slightly, "No sign of her anywhere. I suspect that she's either hidden and watching us, or going after our objective herself."

"Very good guesses. I might just agree with that assessment."

Five sighed, "I don't suppose you'd mind filling us in?"

"Not aloud, I believe telepathic contact would let us all know better what is going on. Contact." The others chimed in and soon they were living the shared memories. As the broke contact, they all looked a little more uneasy. It was no surprise that he would have someone with him. As much as a Time Lord could do things on his own, there were more than a few that employed assistants for tasks they themselves rather not get their hands dirty doing.

"There are so many pieces tying into one another. I'm not sure we do have enough Doctors to cover all of this." Five said with concern in his voice.

"We need to split up. I think you, myself and the Second Doctor should go after our eighth incarnation. One and Three can see if they can find the escaped companion and keep an eye on the Keeper."

"I suppose that's as good a plan as any…" Three said with little agreement behind his voice. With the rest in semi-agreement to the plan, they started towards their task. It was only twenty minutes afterwards that the Keepers TARDIS started take off from its position. The First and Third Doctor watched it take off, as they expected it would. But that would mean that the companion was stranded here on Earth. Where, though? That was a question that nagged them.

Inside the Keeper's TARDIS, the Keeper smiled at his view screen as he took off from the site. He laughed heartily at the foolish Doctors waiting for the appearance of his companion. In a moment, there was a bright flash and there stood River Song before the Keeper. "Did you do your appointed task?"

"Yes, my master. The eleventh incarnation is collecting the last two and will return here."

"Good work, Kamelion. You may drop that disguise now."

"Yes, master."

"I am not the Master, Kamelion! He was a degenerate Time Lord that should have been killed at birth! Refer to me as the Keeper until I tell you otherwise. Acknowledge?"

"Yes, Keeper."

"Very good. Let us go forth and finish this. We need to find the last two Doctors, and then we will set the final trap for them all. The universe will long remember the Time War and the one who ended it." The Keeper laughed viciously.


End file.
